King pep talk hauls stuttering Watford back from the brink

As the whistle sounded for half-time, Marlon King, whose goal had pulled Watford back into a thrilling match, called his team-mates together. They stood in a huddle in the centre of the pitch and returned after the interval a different side.

Watford are four points clear at the top of the Championship and are beginning to behave like leaders again. Starting last night with only one win from their previous six matches, they found themselves trailing 2-0 by the 28th minute.

The Layer Road tricks which ensured Colchester United a triumphant debut year in the second tier of English football - they finished last season in 10th position after winning 15 times at home - have disappeared. They are no longer strong enough to hold off opposition as Watford proved after Clive Platt, in the seventh minute, and Matt Connolly, in the 28th, fired the home team in front, both goals arriving from poor defending at corners.

Seven minutes later, Watford lost their goalkeeper Mart Poom with a groin injury and in the 40th minute King fired the visitors back into it with a fine goal from 20 yards. Tommy Smith's cross from the right two minutes later found John-Joe O'Toole and he equalised with a far-post header.

Whatever King said, Watford were more assured after the restart and fittingly it was their talisman striker who played a key part in the winner. King refused to lose the ball to three defenders on the edge of the box, feeding it wide to Smith whose cross was converted by Tamas Priskin with a header from six yards.

"We must stop shipping goals," said the Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd. "At 2-0 I was a bit concerned. But it just shows what players I have at this club." The Colchester manager Geraint Williams said: "If we had gone in two-up at the break we would have started the second half as favourites." King had other ideas.